1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packaging element of a tire wheel a hub of which is projected from a rim side face, mainly to a packaging element of a tire wheel for a motorcycle.
2. Prior Art
In recent times, a request for effective utilization of limited resources is intensive and it has been recommended the research and development of products keeping in mind reuse or renewal of materials in various fields.
Particularly, in exports such as automobiles or precision machines and in situations instead of exporting a finished product, an assembly plant is installed at overseas sites and parts are exported to and assembled at that site, there is extremely high need for a packaging element of parts in order to ensure its safety and economic performance of transportation, storage, as well as effective utilization of the packaging component in view of resources.
In packaging and transporting tire wheels (hereinafter, referred to as wheels) for automobiles, particularly for motorcycles having a hub projected from a rim side face, according to packaging means in which wheels of a single vehicle or several vehicles are put into a cardboard case, although the wheel diameter stays the same, the width and a projected dimension of the hub portion differ. Therefore, in piled-up packaging where the hubs of the wheels are vertical, not only the loading state is unstable but also damage, deformation or the like of the rims or the hubs are induced since the parts are brought into contact with each other and adversely affecting the quality. Therefore, the piled-up packaging is difficult to adopt so, in the present circumstances, individual wheels are still put into cardboard cartons, the cartons are piled up on a pallet and bound by bands and transported.
However, according to the above-described conventional individual packaging means of tire wheels, when individual tire wheels are put into cardboard cases, in packaging operation and opening operation thereof, in view of labor and in view of time, time and labor are required more than necessary and the loading efficiency of a container is deteriorated since a volume of each box is increased.
Further, for tire wheels having different widths and projected dimensions of hubs, it is necessary to fabricate and prepare many kinds of cardboard boxes. In addition thereto, it is particularly problematic that it is uneconomical, in view of a storage environment (piled-up in the outside) and a loading space for returning the packaging elements for cardboard boxes or wood boxes, as packaging elements once used. Particularly, durability cannot be ensured in cardboard boxes as packaging elements and therefore, opened fiberboard boxes are scrapped without being reused as packaging elements.
In the meantime, when packaging means are excellent in durability such as a delivery container made of synthetic resin is adopted instead of cardboard packaging there are inconveniences. Although an economic effect in view of resources is achieved by repeated use thereof, economic burden for recycle such as its bulkiness, inconvenience in handling or the like becomes more than an uneconomic effect of scrapping fiberboard boxes. Further, the container is bulkier than the fiberboard package, the loading efficiency of the container is deteriorated and therefore, those means are difficult to adopt.
It is purpose of the present invention to provide a packaging element of a tire wheel which is excellent in returnability achieving rationalization of physical distribution expense such as effective utilization of resources and reduction in packaging waste by repeated use, ensuring of safety of parts, efficiency of transportation and loading, promotion of economic performance of transportation for storage and reuse of packaging elements and the like.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a packaging element of a tire wheel, wherein there are used, as one set, three sheets or more of supporting and fixing members (1) constituting a packaging object by a tire wheel (H) having a hub projected from one side face or two side faces of a rim. The fixing member (1) provides hub holes (11) having a number twice or more as much as a number of the tire wheels supported by each of supporting base plates (10) at the supporting base plates (10) constituted substantially by a rectangular contour having a size equal to or smaller than a contour size of a pallet (P) to piled up while being shifted at the respectives of the supporting base plates (10) to thereby arrange the hub holes (11) to dispose at a loading space without interfereing with each hubs of the tire wheels (H) at one or both of upper and lower sides thereof. The base plates (10) having movement hampering means for preventing movement of the tire wheels (H) at surroundings of the hub holes (11) in correspondence with the number of the tire wheels to be supported at a surface of the supporting base plate (10) and at respectives of surroundings of others of the hub holes (11) at a rear face of the supporting base plate (10).
According to the packaging element (which is the supporting and fixing member (1)) of a tire wheel of the invention constituted as described above, firstly, one sheet of the supporting and fixing members (1) is placed on a pallet (P) with a face thereof having the movement hampering means on the surface side at surroundings of the hub holes (11) of a central portion and on sides of four corners, directed upwardly. The hub portions constituting projected portions of the tire wheels (H) are fitted to respectives of the hub holes (11) of the central portion and on the sides of the four corners and at the same time, the rims are fitted to the movement hampering means on the surface side. For example, in the case of nine hub holes (11) of the supporting base plate (10) in three rows in longitudinal and transverse directions, five tire wheels (H) are supported. Thereafter, the face having the movement hampering means on the surface side directed downwardly, a second one of the supporting and fixing member (1) is piled up without discrepancy between the upper side and the lower side and five tire wheels (H) are sandwiched such that the face having the movement hampering means on the rear face side constitute the upper face.
Further, by such a procedure, for example, by using six sheets of the supporting and fixing members (1), the tire wheels (H) are loaded in five stages alternately in five pieces, four pieces, five pieces, four pieces. Or respective four tire wheels (H) are loaded while being shifted in the up and down direction by using six sheets of the supporting and fixing members (1) each having eight hub holes (11) along sides of a rectangle in which the hub hole (11) is not present at the central portion, described selectively in Claim 2. Thereafter, the total is bound and packaged by wrapping bands (V) in longitudinal and transverse directions and the total is loaded to a container by using a material handling vehicle such as a fork lift and then transported.
Further, in collecting the used packages, by a procedure reverse to the above-described, the package is opened, the tire wheels (H) are taken out, thereafter, the respective supporting and fixing members (1) are piled up, bound by the bands (V) and recovered.
According to the packaging element of the tire wheel (H) of the invention, the hub of the tire wheel (H) is projected from the opened hub hole (11) at a second one of the supporting and fixing member (1), however, the hub hole (11) contiguous to the hub hole (11) is not closed and is brought into an opened state.
Therefore, the respective hubs of the piled-up tire wheels (H) on the upper side and the lower side do not interfere with each other. The same goes with the case in which the tire wheel (H) are loaded in several stages alternately by five pieces, four pieces, five pieces, four pieces . . . or in four pieces by using a plurality of the supporting and fixing members (1).
Further, the tire wheels (H) at the respective stages do not move horizontally owing to the movement hampering means respectively on the surface side and the rear face side.
Further, in recovering the above-described packaging elements, in piling up the supporting and fixing members (1), the supporting and fixing members (1) are piled up with low bulk in a stable state in which the respective movement hampering means on the surface side and rear face side are brought,in mesh with each other and are not shifted horizontally and are enabled to be bound by the bands (V).
Further, even in the case in which the diameter of the tire wheel (H) is the same and the rim width is different, a difference of the rim""s width is about 1 thorough 3 cm and therefore, when the supporting and fixing member (1) is fabricated with the tire wheel (H) having a wide width as referenced, in piling up the tire wheels (H) having a narrow rim width, when one sheet or several sheets of extra ones of the supporting and fixing members (1) are used as spacers, there is no hazard in adjusting the loading height of the container.